This is not a post about having sexual intercourse with Lassie. We’re not discussing how to make love to your pet poodle.

We’re talking linguistics here. We’re talking about idioms. We’re talking about the challenges of interpreting from one language to another, and how something often gets lost in the translation.

We’re talking about screwing the pooch.

“Screwing the pooch” is an idiomatic expression; a slang phrase that means to make a whopper of a mistake.

Basically – when you’ve screwed the pooch, you’ve fucked up big time.

The expression became popular through Tom Wolfe’s book “The Right Stuff,” which described the early years of America’s space program (and was later made into a movie starring Fred Ward, Ed Harris, and Sam Shepard.) In the book, Wolfe uses the phrase to describe a major boo-boo that Gus Grissom – one of the original “Mercury Seven” astronauts – allegedly made while aboard his Mercury space capsule:

But now – surely! It was so obvious! Grissom had just screwed the pooch! In flight tests, if you did something that stupid, if you destroyed a major prototype through some lame-brain mistake such as hitting the wrong button – you were through! You’d be lucky to end up in Flight Engineering. Oh, it was obvious to everybody at Edwards (Air Force Base) that Grissom had just f***cked it, screwed the pooch, that was all.

– page 230 of The Right Stuff, by Tom Wolfe

From what I understand, the original term goes back even further in military history… but we won’t discuss all of that here – if you’re interested in studying more about this phrase, you can always Google it (see here for one person’s explanation of the term…)

My real question – and the reason for writing this post in the first place – is to ask my readers:

Just how does one go about translating this expression into American Sign Language?

Somehow I get the feeling that signing “f-ck the dog” wouldn’t be entirely appropriate.

I suppose the best thing to do would be to sign the concept of the term… in which case, you would probably want to sign something along the lines of “big mistake” or “mess up” (using C handshapes making twisting movements in a sideways movement.) This would certainly convey the meaning of the expression.

photo by ktpupp

And yet… there is something endearingly funny about the actual wording of this phrase. Yes, it’s crude and vulgar, but that’s its charm. It’s all part of the history of the language and its usage in various segments of both polite and not-so-polite society. Idioms and slang phrases play an important role in that history – they help to define not only the language itself, but the people who use it… their thoughts, their beliefs, and how they express themselves.

But they can be mighty tricky to translate from one language into another.

And it’s not just translating from English to American Sign Language (ASL) either. It works both ways. There are concepts, idioms, classifiers, etc. in ASL that don’t translate so effectively into English either. It’s not that it can’t be done, but English just seems like a poor substitute for trying to explain some of the rich imagery and the little nuances that can be found in ASL. Shane Feldman does an excellent job of explaining this in his post about Austin Andrews and the Deaf Ninja video – see DeafDC’s Deaf Ninja – A Benchmark for ASL Videos.

For myself, English is my native language. I didn’t begin learning American Sign Language until I was a teenager, and didn’t start using ASL on a regular basis until I entered Gallaudet at the ripe old age of eighteen. Even though I have been signing now for over 30 years, I’m still an English-thinking person, and it shows… I’m never going to be a top-notch ASL user. That’s okay… although I admit there are times when I look at some of my Deaf peers with a bit of envy, wishing I could sign like they do!

But more to the point – in the same way that I love ASL, I love English too. In the same way that I love the “emotion and nuance and minutiae detail” (thanks, Shane!) found in ASL… I love the play on words and the tongue-in-cheek humor and the imagery that can be found in the English language.

Somehow, signing “big mistake” just doesn’t cut it.

This whole issue came up recently during a discussion I was having with some hearing friends, where someone used the phrase – which got the rest of us laughing (okay, admittedly we were drinking at the time, but it still seemed funny!) I was asked how one would go about signing such a phrase in ASL, and must admit that I was left a bit stumped.

So once again I appeal to the readership… and I offer up this challenge to my fellow members of the Deaf Community; many of whom are far more competent in ASL than I am:

How would YOU sign the phrase “screw the pooch” – as explained above?

Interpreters… how would you translate this phrase if it was to come up in the classroom, or perhaps even during a lecture where Tom Wolfe himself is quoting from the book? Would it depend on the Deaf person(s) and his command of English? Would you fingerspell it first and then sign it? Sign it more graphically (i.e. “bleeping the dog”) and then follow up with the sign for “messed up”???

How does one deal with the translation of idioms and slang phrases from English to ASL?

Hmmm… something to think about.

Feel free to leave a written comment with your explanation of translating this phrase, or you can leave a link to a video showing how you’d sign it. Let’s get the Deaf B/Vlogosphere “screwing the pooch!” Just don’t mess up while you’re doing it (WINK!)

9 Responses

As far as interpreting “screw the pooch,” like interpreting anything, it depends on the audience! If I were terping for YOU, I’d sign “mess up,”, followed by “quote”, and then fingerspell “screw the pooch.” If it were for a person who did not have great English skills (and maybe not even great ASL skills) and probably wouldn’t get the English, which might just confuse the situation, I’d probably just sign “mess up” and go on for the general meaning. It ALWAYS depends on the deaf consumer, of course!

While I agree with Pam that it is important to consider the language level and the needs of the deaf consumer, I also believe it’s important for an interpreter to balance this with giving credence to the speaker.

If I was to hear the phrase “screw the pooch” being used, I would consider it worthy enough to actually translate it directly (and especially if it was being quoted in reference to Tom Wolfe’s book, or being quoted by Mr. Wolfe himself!)

So while I would try to be sensitive to the needs of the deaf consumer whenever possible, I think it’s also my responsibility as an interpreter to stay true to the intent, meaning, and style of the original speaker. If he uses slang expressions, idioms, and the like… I would do my best to incorporate them into my interpreting so the Deaf consumer understands this is the style of speaking this individual is using.

I’d probably first sign “quote” and fingerspell the phrase, and then follow up with the sign for “mess up.”

There are times when you’re thrown into an interpreting situation where you really don’t have the chance to evaluate your deaf consumer(s) and their language skills. This is especially true if you’re doing platform interpreting for a public presentation or the like, where you may not know who is in the audience.

In addition, just because a person uses ASL fluently doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t know or don’t understand English phrases – I’ve met plenty of Deaf individuals who are skilled in both languages. I’ve also met Deaf individuals who even if they don’t always have a strong grasp of English, sometimes they still may want to learn those expressions. I’ve met Deaf people who have told me they’ve picked up English phrases and the like from watching interpreters.

While “teaching English” may not be the primary responsibility of an interpreter, it is sometimes a by-product of the job we do.

I have a poster of an artists illustrated version of English idioms. For example, there’s a clock in the air with wings to illustrate “Time Flies.” The entire picture is quite detailed with over a hundred idioms listed at the bottom. I love idioms in any language. Sometimes when translated to English, you need to have a better understanding of the culture to get the meaning.

ASL is the perfect avenue for idioms the way a hand can become so many different pictures.

I agree with you on this one idiom “screwing the pooch.” In English you get a sense of the mistake being made, that he has put something in the wrong place (for lack of a better way to describe it hahaha!) It’s not vulgar because the word pooch is a sweet word with associated imagery of a small fluffy dog.

The problem of translating English to ASL is you can’t do it word for word as with other language translations.
Also English is one of the wordiest langauges there is, with over ten times the number of words as French, for example. Each word, even the rhythm of the placement of a word within a phrase, carries specific nuance that simply won’t translate to ASL.

And I’m finding opposite true of translating ASL to English. One tiny action makes a huge impact in the meaning. The untrained eye of an English speaker will misunderstand the meaning. Idiom not understood.

Now every deaf person no matter how limited their education or signing, they KNOW the sign “fuck up”.

I do not like interpreters to generalize the signs and if there is a crude or rude word, to actually sign it or fingerspell it. It’s not right for the interpreter to decide what we can hear. Every and all words, no matter how awful it sounds should be said….because the hearing audience gets the message…why cant we?

I think Lucky’s way sounds appropriate, because I think in general, that phrase is so uncommon, that most younger people won’t have even heard/seen that phrase used. It’s really kind of a disgusting phrase, if you think about it.

Actually, while I don’t see this phrase used much in the Deaf Community, it is actually the younger generation that has tended to use it the most… and/or the tech community. As a computer programmer, I use the term “pooch” often to talk about making a big mistake with programming, downloading, etc.

The younger generation may not know or even care about the origin of the phrase, but they like using it simply for its shock value – let’s face it, they enjoy language of this sort. I’ve heard plenty of 20-year-olds using it, but if you’d ask them which book the expression comes from, they would likely just give you a blank stare…

Great article! thanks. And if you like idioms you should check this page outhttp://www.k-international.com/french_idiomsIt gives a list of French idioms with their English translations – really shows how funny language is out of context (and what a nightmare it can be to translate languages!). 🙂

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Ocean is the creator & manager of this blog. Born deaf into an all-hearing family, she was raised oral and attended hearing schools. Ocean began learning sign language at the ripe old age of 16, and after meeting a Deaf man began her own journey through Deafhood. She graduated from Gallaudet College (now University), and has held positions both within & outside of the field of Deaf Services.

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